Rape cases rose by 289% in Mumbai in past 5 years

Praja Foundation report reveals concerns over safety of women, children also on the rise

Rape cases in the city have increased by 289% and molestation by 287% in the past five years (between 2011-12 and 2015-16), according to the white paper released by Praja foundation on Monday.

Moreover, the percentage of people who think women and children in the city are unsafe has gone up from 22% to 33% between 2013 and 2016, revealed a survey carried out by the foundation, in which around 25,000 respondents participated.

“On this serious issue of crime against women and children, the government and police should take cognisance,” said Nitai Mehta, founder and managing trustee of Praja foundation.

The report revealed that the number of rape cases registered in 2015 in city were 712 — 63% of these involved minors. The number of cases were much less in 2014 — 609 , of which 56% were children. “Proper policing, investigation and implementation of police reforms suggested by the Supreme Court are needed to tackle the problem of law and order and make life secure,” said Mehta.

The foundation has received the statistics from an RTI reply from the Mumbai police. The information also revealed that rape increased by 13% and molestation by 28% in 2015-16. “This is also reflected in the survey data where 33 % of the citizens said they do not feel secure for women, children and senior citizens,” observed the report, adding that cases being registered may be attributed to the ‘conducive’ atmosphere.

The way our elected representatives are tackling crime also presented a grim picture. Three MLAs — Bharati Lavekar, Ramchandra Kadam and Selvan Tamil — have not raised even a single issue on crime during the monsoon 2015 and winter 2015 state legislature session, revealed the report.